Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes best potential postseason clash

Share this:

FILE – In this Sept. 23, 2018, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, in Detroit. Brady, who will retire as possibly the best to ever play the position, faces Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, the most electrifying quarterback in the NFL this season, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

The wide-open, 11-game football tournament that ends with trite statements from the on-field platform preceded by an interminable halftime show promises to pop with multiple games ending on last-second heroics and/or choke jobs.

Wild card weekend alone features three games with spreads inside a field goal. For that, we can thank a system designed to create parity, which boosts TV ratings and in turn dollars because viewers hang in there until the arms raise in one den and the remotes fly in another.

Yet, even in a field with so many potential must-see matchups, one rises above and fits the tough-to-call theme of this postseason.

The 11-game NFL tourney only can be all that it can be if it features a generational clash of elite quarterbacks on Sunday, Jan. 20, a 6:40 p.m. kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium.

If the rematch of the only 43-40 outcome in NFL history, won by the Patriots on Oct. 14 at Gillette Stadium, comes to fruition in the AFC Championship Game, Super Bowl LIII will have a tough act to follow.

The contrast in styles and histories of the franchises starts with the quarterbacks and extends well beyond. Brady has a 27-10 record as a postseason starter, Mahomes 0-0. The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game at home since 1993, back when Brady idolized their quarterback, Joe Montana. The Patriots haven’t won a road playoff game since 2006.

Andy Reid has an 11-13 record in the postseason, including 1-4 with the Chiefs. Bill Belichick is 28-11 overall, 27-10 with the Patriots.

Kareem Hunt and Josh Gordon, serving indefinite suspensions, played in the game at Gillette. Hunt (80 rushing yards, 105 receiving yards and a TD) played an even bigger role with the Chiefs than Gordon (five receptions, 42 yards) in general and in the game.

Brady threw for 340 yards and one touchdown without throwing an interception. Mahomes threw for 352 yards and four TDs and was picked off twice.